Install Android 6.0 Marshmallow on Galaxy S2 i9100 via Cyanogenmod 13 ROM. Google recently released their latest Android version named Android 6.0 Marshmallow. This latest update has started rolling out for the Nexus and Android One devices. Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100 is a much old device now whose life ended on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update. Samsung stopped rolling out further updates for this smartphone. The main reason behind this might be the hardware incompatibility of this device. Still the users of Galaxy S2 can experience the later Android versions with the help of third party custom ROMs.

Recently Lysergic Acid, a recognized developer from xda community launched the famous Cyanogenmod 13 custom ROM based on the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow especially for Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100 smartphone. As Galaxy S2 will never get this update officially, so you may manually install the unofficial one to experience the Android M. This way you can enjoy both the Cyanogenmod 13 features as well as the Android 6.0 Marshmallow features on your phone. Thus you are getting a combo pack of features to experience.

The Cyanogenmod team has drastically improved over the past few years. They have increased the customization options with some newly added unique features. In this CM 13 ROM, you’ll definitely experience some breathtaking and mouth watering features. This CM 13 ROM based on Android M has all the advanced Marshmallow flavored features including CPU Governor, refurnished home screen, new dialer app, new themes, theme editing, memory tweaks, low memory management support, new gallery, new keyboard, new customization, optimized RAM, updated Linux kernel, battery saving tweaks & much more. But the most important thing you must note that this ROM is still in working stage hence you may face some untested bugs and issues. However all the mainstream features are found to be working. And don’t worry as all the issues will be cleared up in the next update. Finally if you are eager to experience this latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow based Cyanogenmod 13 ROM on your Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100 smartphone, then head on to our actual article given below.

Disclaimer:

Follow the guide on your own risk. Neither we nor the developers of this ROM will be held responsible for any damage caused to your Galaxy S2. Although the chances of bricking a phone are rare. Still I recommend you to implement everything as mentioned with an attentive mind.

Compatibility:

This CM 13 ROM is compatible only with the international variant of Samsung Galaxy S2 having model number GT-I9100. Do not flash it on any other device or variant as it may cause severe damage. You may confirm your device’s model number from Menu–>Settings–>About phone.

Pre-Requisites:

Make sure to charge you phones battery at least up to 60% as lack of battery can interrupt the process.

It is highly recommended to backup all your data including contacts, messages, call logs, apn settings, memos etc. For the safe side, you may transfer all the data on PC or your phones external SD card.

Also backup EFS folder present in your phones system directory which contains all your phones specific information such as the IMEI, wireless devices MAC addresses, product code, and much more. If by mistake this folder gets wiped out then your phone will be completely useless & will no longer be recognized by your carrier. Refer our article to backup and restore EFS/IMEI data:

Make sure you have installed mobile specific drivers on your PC. This is important so to recognize your phone when connected via USB cable. You can install them by installing Samsung Kies or manually install them from the link given below:

Step 3: Now safely disconnect the Galaxy S2 from computer. Switch off your device to boot into recovery mode. To enter recovery mode, press and hold Volume up + Home button (middle button) + Power button together till you enter recovery mode.

As you enter the recovery, the first and foremost thing to do is to make a nandroid backup. This is highly recommended as disaster can knock your door without letting you know. If you get stuck in the process or get boot loops then you can easily restore your saved ROM. This nandroid backup takes the backup of your entire operating system along with system data, user data, boot image, installed apps with data, contacts and even the accounts created.

Step 4: After taking Nandroid backup, you need to clear all the data / cache present on your phones internal memory. For doing so, navigate to the ‘wipe data/factory reset’ option present on the recovery mode and on the next screen select ‘wipe cache partition’ option. This will clear all the data & caches from your phones memory.

Note: A complete backup of everything must be taken before implementing this step.

Step 5: Now navigate to the Advanced option located on the recovery mode itself. On the next screen select Reboot Recovery option.

Step 6: Select the ‘install zip from SD card’ option. Then on the next page select ‘choose zip from SD card’ option. As soon as you select this option, it will show all the data present on your phone. Navigate to the Android 6.0 Marshmallow based Cyanogenmod 13 ROM which you’ve copied earlier and select it. On the next page select ‘Yes’ option to initiate the actual Android M flashing process. Be patient and wait few minutes for the process to complete successfully.

Step 7: As the process completes, again select ‘wipe data/factory reset’ option and ‘wipe cache partition’ option from the recovery mode to clear all your phones data & cache. This step is recommended in order to overcome the boot loops issue.

Step 9: Everything completes here. Just restart your Galaxy S2 by selecting ‘reboot system now’ option from the recovery mode. Note that this first boot takes more time to start than usual.

Note: If you do not like this ROM then you can easily restore your previous saved ROM by using the Nandroid backup / restore technique. For doing so, just boot into recovery mode and select ‘Backup and Restore’ option and then on next page select ‘Restore’ option. Then select one of the saved ROM you want to restore.

Success

Voila! The all new Android 6.0 Marshmallow based Cyanogenmod 13 Custom ROM has been successfully flashed on your Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 smartphone. The same can be confirmed from Menu->Settings->About Phone. If you come across any difficulty while going through the process mentioned above then without any hesitate contact me from the comments section given below. I’ll try to help you out. Till then Enjoy! 🙂